vigilante vigilante: The battle for expression

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Engaging…entertaining…nary a dull moment… -Variety

“Talk about a mind-blowing twist to the graffiti question.”-The SF Gate

Subjects: Art, DocumentarySynopsis"Vigilante Vigilante: The Battle for Expression" is a thought-provoking new film about graffiti and those who do anything to stop it. Unlike prior films that simply celebrate graffiti and street art, "Vigilante Vigilante" breaks new ground by focusing on the cultural battle and controversy surrounding these illegal forms of expression. The film centers around four intense and eccentric anti-graffiti vigilantes in different cities across the country--Berkeley, Portland, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. These vigilantes and the graffiti writers whose work they paint out are both arch-enemies and simply different sides of the same coin. The co-author of the "Broken Windows Theory," professor James Q. Wilson appears in the film as proponent of vigilance in fighting graffiti, while former graffiti writer and urban theorist Stefano Bloch, Ph.D argues for a nuanced understanding of illegal public expression. In a broader sense, "Vigilante Vigilante" is really about entering into a dialog with our opponents, and the film explores the universal themes of obsession, expression, conflict, tolerance, and hypocrisy. The film is rich in content relating to public space, art, urban planning, sociology, psychology, freedom of expression, crime, and law. But Powell’s real “end game” was business control of law and politics. HEIST’s step by step detail exposes the systemic implementation of Powell’s memo by BOTH U.S. political parties culminating in the deregulation of industry, outsourcing of jobs and regressive taxation. All of which led us to the global financial crisis of 2008 and the continued dismantling of the American middle class.